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Complete Death Certificates Promptly:
It’s the Law
The State Medical Board reports an increasing number of complaints and inquiries
from the public and funeral directors regarding physician failure to complete and sign
death certificates in a timely manner. The Oklahoma State Department of Health’s
Center for Health Statistics indicates a similar increase as well.
Most Oklahomans die in hospitals or nursing homes. The majority of death cer-tificates
in Oklahoma are completed in the medical examiners’ office, by hospitalists,
physicians with large nursing home and/or hospice practices, or those in high risk,
often hospital-based, specialties.
The inundation of medical, legal, insurance and government paperwork under-standably
might make physicians and their staffs who routinely deal with a limited
number of death cases assign a low priority to death certificates requests. But Okla-homa
law is quite clear.
A death certificate “shall be filed with the State Department of Health within three
(3) days of such death.” [63 O.S. § 1-317]
The failure to file death certificates promptly may cause probate, insurance and/or
financial problems for an already grieving family, and inhibit the ability of the Oklaho-ma
State Department of Health to compile the health statistics so important in deter-mining
future health policy.
Funeral directors initiate the process by entering the deceased’s personal data
on the death certificate, which must be delivered to the “physician in charge of the
patient’s care for the illness or condition that resulted in death” or medical examiner
within twenty-four (24) hours after the death. The physician then has forty-eight (48)
hours to complete, sign and return the medical certification portion of the death certifi-cate
to the funeral director.
Physicians are required to certify “natural” deaths.
Issues&Answers Board of
Medical
Licensure &
Supervision
this issue
Complete Death
Certificates
Promptly P.1
Prescribing
Opioids P.2
DEA
Classification for
Cannabinoids
P.3
Disposal Of
Controlled
Substances P.5
Testimonial to
Recovery P.6
First Paperless
Meeting P.7
V o l . 1 9
02
S u m m e r 2 0 1 2
Continued on page 4

Complete Death Certificates Promptly:
It’s the Law
The State Medical Board reports an increasing number of complaints and inquiries
from the public and funeral directors regarding physician failure to complete and sign
death certificates in a timely manner. The Oklahoma State Department of Health’s
Center for Health Statistics indicates a similar increase as well.
Most Oklahomans die in hospitals or nursing homes. The majority of death cer-tificates
in Oklahoma are completed in the medical examiners’ office, by hospitalists,
physicians with large nursing home and/or hospice practices, or those in high risk,
often hospital-based, specialties.
The inundation of medical, legal, insurance and government paperwork under-standably
might make physicians and their staffs who routinely deal with a limited
number of death cases assign a low priority to death certificates requests. But Okla-homa
law is quite clear.
A death certificate “shall be filed with the State Department of Health within three
(3) days of such death.” [63 O.S. § 1-317]
The failure to file death certificates promptly may cause probate, insurance and/or
financial problems for an already grieving family, and inhibit the ability of the Oklaho-ma
State Department of Health to compile the health statistics so important in deter-mining
future health policy.
Funeral directors initiate the process by entering the deceased’s personal data
on the death certificate, which must be delivered to the “physician in charge of the
patient’s care for the illness or condition that resulted in death” or medical examiner
within twenty-four (24) hours after the death. The physician then has forty-eight (48)
hours to complete, sign and return the medical certification portion of the death certifi-cate
to the funeral director.
Physicians are required to certify “natural” deaths.
Issues&Answers Board of
Medical
Licensure &
Supervision
this issue
Complete Death
Certificates
Promptly P.1
Prescribing
Opioids P.2
DEA
Classification for
Cannabinoids
P.3
Disposal Of
Controlled
Substances P.5
Testimonial to
Recovery P.6
First Paperless
Meeting P.7
V o l . 1 9
02
S u m m e r 2 0 1 2
Continued on page 4